This invention relates to those fireplace heaters which have a cabinet arranged to at least partially enclose the firebox and connected to a flue which passes up the fireplace chimney to convey combustion products out of the building. The front of a fireplace heater usually includes a firebox door surround assembly which extends over any openings between the firebox and the cabinet, and over any gaps which usually exist between the cabinet and the surrounding fireplace. Grilles may be provided in the surround assembly to allow air flow through these openings and gaps. A fireplace heater is a solid fuel heating appliance installed within, or partially within a fireplace, and includes those heaters sometimes known as fireplace inserts.
In the past the operation of connecting the flue to the heater has been problematical owing to the difficulty of access to the place where the flue meets the heater. In some cases the flue has been foreshortened or dispensed with altogether so that the heater could be installed without the flue having to be connected after installation. This practice carries a considerable risk of fire due to the build up of creosote and other combustion products in the chimney.
An alternative practice in the past has been to locate the flue in the chimney prior to installation of the heater. It was then necessary to drop or maneouvre the flue into its correct working position vis-a-vis the heater after installation of the latter and before installing the door surround assembly. This is unsatisfactory when the gap between the cabinet and the surrounding fireplace is too small to allow a satisfactory sealed connection between the heater and the flue to be made. The technique is also laborious and time consuming which is particularly undesirable because the flue should be disconnected at regular intervals to allow a visual inspection to be made for creosote build-up.
It is an object of the invention to provide a heater in which sealed connection between the flue and the heater is more easily achieved, particularly when screws or other mechanical means are used to make a positive connection.